Exciting wine and food openings energise Geelong scene

A welcome new neighbour for many Newtowners, Claret is set to open as a part-wine shop/part-winebar within the coming couple of months.

However, the faces behind this new establishment will be familiar ones to most residents around the riverend of Pakington Street district, with the former owners of (the recently closed) Blackhearts and Sparrows, Conor McNie and Zara Wilkens, being the vinous brains behind the venue. Situated just across the road from The Birch and I Ragazzi, I feel the little precinct of shops on both sides of this Pako strip here is promising to become equally as exciting as any of the areas along its Geelong West counterpart, potentially even more than where the hum of the dozen or so cafes are only a few hundred metres away, northward. Conor and Zara are great operators, I’m really looking forward to this one taking shape.

While on the subject of wineshops, one of my favourite fellow Pakington Street vino vendors, Winepress, will be popping up at Newfolk Café for the last two weekends of this month, pouring a selection of owner Nick’s current favs by-the-glass. Naturally, some snacks will be on offer from the Newfolk kitchen, but be sure to book for this one: for those who haven’t been here, spots both indoors and out are seriously limited (there’ll be a couple of ‘sittings’ across both the Saturdays and Sundays, although this still probably won’t do demand much justice). It’s definitely a fun little collab between these two – both great independent local businesses – to see some of the warmer weather of summer off. And did I mention some DJ beats added in for extra atmosphere?

In sadder news this week, I’ve been informed that La Provence de Mer’s residency at The Geelong Club is coming to an end in the next couple of months. I’ve enjoyed a few meals here over the past six months or so, the last being only a few weeks back where Michelin-trained chef, Andrew Howarth, served Spencer Gulf king prawns (hard to source) and 7+ Japanese wagyu (extremely hard to source) to a group of lucky diners. For those that haven’t yet been, here’s your reminder to make a booking. And for those who have been already, here’s your reminder to make another booking before they’re gone. It remains unclear what will fill the vacancy at this Geelong institution, but I for one, loved it when the club ran monthly pop-ups from different coastal restaurants, giving them a home in a Geelong and the chance to appeal to a more suburban audience. I’ll certainly be keeping my eyes and tastebuds peeled for where Chef Andrew shows up next.

On a more positive note, I was pleased to hear that Gelato Messina had announced Geelong as the first regional Vic outpost. With five stores already in Melbourne and roughly 30-odd found elsewhere around Australia, the hit gelato brand should fit nicely into Geelong’s love of sweet and iced things. Opening mid-year, the store will be found on the edge of Little Malop Street’s eatery district, when travelling from an easterly direction. The design of the store has a feature I really like: its entry will be via the Little Malop/Shorts Place corner (rather than on Moorabool Street), meaning hungry gelato eaters will need to step off the main drag and into the hospitality precinct, encouraging them to explore what else is open/on offer along the laneway. Clever and creative, eh?

I can’t remember if I’ve sung the praises of this little café before, but Florence & Me has become one of my favourite CBD caffeine spots. Among other tasty things, this Ryrie Street address really does great coffee, which makes me appreciate the sign at the front door that tiny bit more (it states “Bloody Good Coffee Sold Here”). The owners are quite hands-on and the majority of their breakfast and lunch offering is made fresh there (obviously daily) with many of the regularly-changing options on show in the display cabinet. They haven’t tried to reinvent the café-wheel here (not that they have the space to, anyway) but rather just nail the simple points you want out of a welcoming corner café spot: good coffee, healthy and tasty take-away choices, and friendly/speedy service.

Finally, the year’s Local Palate podcasts will kick off again in the coming couple of weeks, and the lineup of guests already booked for 2026 is looking exciting: be sure to check our Spotify page every month as I interview a different local foodie personality on what’s happening in their world and how Geelong continues to grow as a culinary city.